Hu appointed president but Jiang retains power

March 16 2003
The Sun-Herald

Jiang Zemin

China made profound changes to its elite leadership amid classic communist pomp and ceremony yesterday, appointing Hu Jintao president but retaining his predecessor Jiang Zemin in the powerful position of military chief.

Hu, 60, assumes the job left vacant by Jiang who came to the end of his 10-year term, sealing what could be the first orderly transition of power since the Communist Party was founded in 1949.

But while Jiang ceded the presidency, he was reappointed chairman of the state Central Military Commission and, at least in the short term, will remain China's supreme leader.

The CMC chairmanship is a hugely powerful job and was the only top slot filled by Jiang's predecessor Deng Xiaoping during a decade when he acted as so-called "paramount leader".

The job in essence gives Jiang, and not Hu, the ultimate power in China as whoever controls the 2.5 million strong military has historically controlled the vast country.");document.write("

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There was only one candidate for each of the posts - in line with communist party rules - and they were elected for a duration of five years at the National People's Congress, the parliament meeting in Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People.

Further strengthening Jiang's grip on power was the appointment of his right-hand man Zeng Qinghong to the vice presidency. According to the constitution, Zeng would become president should the post be vacated for any reason.

The other key appointment was Wu Bangguo, number two in Chinese politics, as chairman of China's 2,900-member parliament, replacing the retiring party loyalist Li Peng, 74.

The poker-faced bureaucrat's new role as chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress puts him in charge of what is officially China's highest body of political power, but is in fact little more than a rubber-stamp assembly.

A new premier, likely Wen Jiabao, will be elected today with his government appointed on Monday to complete the move to a younger "Fourth Generation" of communist leaders.

Hu, groomed for more than a decade to lead his nation, will have his work cut out manoeuvring himself from the shadow of Jiang, who clearly took centre stage yesterday.

Despite being named Communist Part secretary in November to go with the presidency, he is surrounded by Jiang's men in the nine-member Politburo Standing Committee, the Communist Party's elite power-wielding organ.

Analysts say he will have to carefully try to consolidate power while not antagonising Jiang, who, in his new role, is expected to determine foreign policy in particular.

And the task ahead is daunting in a country on a rapid modernisation drive.

Public frustration is rising over forced relocations, there is mass unemployment, burdensome rural taxes, and official corruption.

China's entry into the World Trade Organisation is expected to make matters worse, bringing more wrenching social and economic changes in a country whose political system remains closed and secretive.

The new leadership has pledged to address many of these concerns but, at least in the coming months, political power-playing is expected to take precedence.

"I think Hu will fully exploit his position as head of state to project himself as leader of China," said political scientist Joseph Cheng from Hong Kong's City University.

"At the same time, Jiang Zemin wants to play an important role in diplomatic affairs, especially on the question of Taiwan."

David Zweig, a China expert at Hong Kong's University of Science and Technology, cautioned that Jiang's influence should not be overstated, saying Hu had made inroads into the Jiang powerbase since being appointed party secretary in November.

"The flip side is that no one expected Hu Jintao or even Wen Jiabao to come out with their own agendas, their own policy directions, so quickly," he said.